Whispers Bathed in Green and Pink
by Oriviurr
Summary: Everyone's heard of the troll that the Laughing culled when the Listener couldn't care for him anymore. A little wiggler with blood running crimson like pity, who navigated the great halls of the Indigo's castle with such ease that he hadn't been seen by anyone other than his culler and troll-lusus since his fifth wriggling day.


Sunwaker sighed loudly, ensuring that as many pompous coldbloods as possible could hear her as she looked for someone she could talk to without wanting to drown herself after two minutes. Well, ok, it wasn't like the coldbloods were horrible people, they were pretty chill (Haha _get it_.), they were just _boring_. The only one she could just about stand was Her Imperious Mercy, and even she pushed the boundaries sometimes with her perpetual fish puns. She guessed the Laughing was okay, but only because he was getting nice and cosy in one of her darker quadrants. She hated that guy so much. Ugh. And Navigate, Whitelie and the Mechanic weren't even worth _mentioning_. Well, Whitelie was more incredibly annoying than boring, but the concept didn't change.

Glass in hand, the Chief Legislatector of Beforus made her way through the crowd, and sniffed around for the people she was equally glad and horrified to call her friends. The Laughing smelled completely out of it, although not as much as he had been as a gangly, sopor addicted teenager. Dark days, they were. Dark days _indeed_. Of course, Sunwaker hadn't really given a shit. He'd stopped his addiction when the Listener had approached him with an important request, as it wasn't in proper spirit for those who take in culled wigglers ninety five percent of the time. He was pretty out of it right now all the same, and Sunwaker couldn't _wait_ until he fucked up. She'd made various vows to not actually fuck up until he had first, which the Huntress said was good because he'd made the same vows and now no one would get licked or covered in greasepaint without negative consequences for the two in the kismesissitude. It worked, albeit tensely, Sunwaker guessed.

Said Huntress was off to the side of the hall, attempting to pull the Mechanic into a dance. Those two… It was strange how close they were, even when they were children. They'd lived their whole lives relying on each other for everything. Sunwaker could smell the aging of the Huntress though. Warmbloods didn't live that long, surely the Mechanic knew? How would he react when his Moirail left this world for good? Sunwaker didn't like to think on it.

There was a tap on her shoulder, and she spun around to a whiff of jade and blood. The Listener was, and always had been, an incredibly good friend of Sunwaker's, and at one point she'd even been her and Whitelie's Auspistice. She'd trust the Listener without a second thought, and the vice versa was also assuredly fact.

"Legislatector Redsight, it's been much too long," the Rainbow Drinker hummed, a twinkle in her deep green eyes.

Sunwaker grinned. "Oh come _on_ Kanaya, the least you can do is call me Sunwaker, if you won't use my wiggler name anymore."

The Listener sighed. "Sunwaker, I never said I wouldn't call you by your wiggler name anymore. I just stated that it may not be correct to use such private terms when so many others are around to listen in."

"Haha, _listen_," Sunwaker giggled, shoving the Listener's shoulder in a friendly manner as the other smiled tiredly. "So, what's this I hear about a wiggler with no lusus?"

The Listener's face quickly became stoic and indecipherable and Sunwaker narrowed her eyes slightly. Huh? "Wait, what's up? C'mon Listener, did I say something…?"

The Rainbow drinker rubbed a hand over her face and smiled sadly. "I apologise, it's a touchy subject. I was unable to properly care for my child whilst dealing with my duties as a jadeblood, and therefore I was forced to allow him to be culled. I suppose you've heard though, hm?"

"Yeah, the Laughing," Sunwaker said softly, lips parting in a small grin. "Fuck that guy."

The Listener laughed. "Fuck him indeed." She checked her timepiece, and was seemingly alarmed. "Well, time is ticking and I must join Her Imperious Mercy for tea. Do try not to brutally murder your kismesis, he is responsible for the fate of my beloved son." And with that, she was gone, patting Sunwaker on the shoulder and brushing out of the door with her jade robes flowing after her. God, she was confusing.

Sunwaker shrugged it off, thinking it to just be another weird aspect of her friend, and pushed through the crowd. Ugh, next time she had a 'duty to uphold' she wouldn't even give a shit, she wasn't going to a big party ever again. Time to abscond. She sniffed around for a door, finding one to her left, and slipped out. Just in case, you know, she ran into the Laughing. Also, the chance to fuck up some of his shit while he was busy entertaining seadwellers was too good to pass up.

She made her way down the purple bathed halls, twisting and turning like the mountains they were carved into and draped with large murals of various helpful members of the cult, assisting warmbloods who have fallen or what-the-fuck-ever. Sunwaker was probably the only fucking troll in this building who didn't believe that all warmbloods needed to be coddled and cared for for their entire lives. She'd hate it, she thought. How would anyone survive without running alone under the moons, laughing and risking things and_ having fun_?

Culled trolls were rarely ever allowed outside of their rooms, never _mind_ outside. A lot of coldbloods just gave them a shit ton of books and soft things and left them to it, making sure they got fed and watered and the likes. They never took their duties seriously, which was a shame, since Sunwaker guessed she could kind of live with the shit if she had someone to hold on to. The Laughing probably _adored_ his culled troll in that weird creepy way where he'd destroy the entire fucking universe if they got a paper cut, and she'd heard that he'd been adamantly against culling the Listener's child until he'd met the boy himself, and had become hells of pale for him and agreed on the spot.

She wondered if he thought the child would bring some sound to these long, echoing halls.

"Who are you?"

She spun on her heels and got a sniff of bright _flush-hued candy motherfucking red._

The kid, about six sweeps if she guessed correctly, quirked an eyebrow. "You're not supposed to be here. Gamzee said his guests wouldn't leave the grand hall."

She blinked, mouth curving into a frown. "I go where I want. How do you know the Laughing's wiggler name?"

"So you _are_ close to him," the kid smirked. Oh fuck dammit.

"Look, kiddo, it doesn't matter if I'm close to him or not, who the hell are you?"

"I believe I asked the question first."

She grumbled in the back of her throat. "My title is Chief Legislatector Sunwaker Redsight." Raising her eyebrows, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Karkat Vantas. What's your wiggler name? You're pretty hot." Woah what the _fuck_. Sunwaker choked and stepped back slightly.

"You're like six!"

"It was worth a shot," he shrugged, running up and grabbing her hand. It was so small, and his nubby horns ended at about her chin. "I'm actually seven though, just kind of short I guess. Wanna see my room?"

Before she could answer, she was dragged down the halls by a kid with _fuck that felt like seadweller strength_? But it was static, and he pulled her like he was running over millions of glass shards but he didn't care because _nothing _could stop him. He was dressed in the long robes for those who were members of the Laughing's expansive cult, although instead of a deep purple they were bright red, and being near him was like jagged spikes caressing her and calming her down with the intensity of any blanket she'd ever felt.

He was like a warmblooded coldblood in a warmblood's body. I.e, he didn't make any goddamned sense.

He stopped in front of a large-ish door, iron with no sign on the front apart from a single TV show poster. The Thresh Prince of Bel-Air. Ugh. He pushed it open effortlessly, slipping inside and pulling her with him, a mischievous grin gracing his young features as she got her first smell of the room.

The room was bright red, except this time with jade and purple hanging from the ceiling in the form of drapes. A computer sat in the corner of the room, on the floor in front of a giant cushion, and a recouperacoon was by a window with red glass, sealed shut. He led her to a sofa at the back of the room covered in blankets and pillows, in front of a coffee table with little fish swimming around inside the red-tinted glass, alike that of the window. At her confused expression, he snickered slightly.

"It was a gift from Feferi. You still haven't told me your wiggler name." She frowned at that.

"I'm not telling you it. We _just_ met," she grumbled, slumping into the sofa. God, even the walls were carpeted.

He jumped down beside her, clutching a pillow with a suspicious clown-smiley drawn on it in purple felt tip. "What's wrong with giving me a few different syllables to refer to you by? I want to be friends. Friends have no secrets dumbass. Also, how the _fuck_ did you get a title like _Sunwaker_? Shit's creepy."

Her mouth spread into a grin of sharp teeth and she pushed her face into his. "I woke up and got my eyes burnt out by the sun!" He didn't jerk away, or even look vaguely disgusted. He actually _smiled_.

"Woah, that is fucking _awesome._" Sunwaker groaned and slumped further in her seat. He was really loud, but in a way that when he shouted he just drowned out anything she'd ever worried about.

"Sooo... You want to be friends? Tell me about yourself. I dunno if you've noticed, but friends actually know each other," she said dryly, her frown still in place.

He blinked, moving closer to her. "Well, uh, when I pupated, no lusus would pick me because my blood is freaky," he started, looking at the legislatector shyly, searching for conflict. "Uh, so, the Listener decided she'd raise me. No one would fight with her, 'cause like, she's the Listener."

She chuckled. "I hear you kid."

He smiled sheepishly. "So, I was raised in the brooding caverns with the jadebloods, until I was five and some crazy person decided to tell my lusus-subsitute that she couldn't raise me anymore." His smile was tiring, and he looked sadly reminiscent.

"She decided she couldn't leave me with someone she didn't know, so she went and asked Deadeyes Navigate. Well, he's a fucking asshole, and said he wasn't "capable of looking after a wuh wiggler at this moment in time." She snickered, and he gave her a weird look. "I am being a hundred percent serious," he growled, shoving her shoulder.

"I'm aware," she laughed, moving her dead eyes to stare at him. "I used to be good friends with Navigate. I suppose we're still friends, but it's been a while."

"Oh, uh, okay," he looked slightly surprised by this. Surely he knew how close the Listener's circle of friends is? "So he said no, so she asked the only highblood left who wasn't already culling someone or like, being the goddamn empress. Or should I say coddamn? Fucking fish puns. But yeah, she asked the Laughing, and he was pretty aganst it at first,

"The Listener arranged a meeting with him in a last ditch effort at giving me to soemone she could at least trust a little. I was sitting on a pile next to the Listener, when he entered the room, weirdass cult make up and all. He stopped, and just sorta... stared at me for a second, and then he honked and sat down beside me and I taught him how the nervous system actually works. Fucking clown thought it was a gift from his messiahs. Anyway, next thing I knew I was given this room and told I was to shout and/or honk really loud if I wanted anything,

Feferi came to visit me once, and she actually gave me her wiggler name, unlike some people."

Sunwaker sighed loudly. "Of course she did."

"But yeah, she said I would be important, and that my visions might mean something after all," he carried on.

She turned her head to him and sat up. "Visions?"

He smiled politely and her, showing off a row of blunt teeth. "I get horrible visions of a world where society is built on discrimination, everyone's violent and Legislatectors are called 'Legislacerators'."

"Awesome," she whispered, and her smile joined his.

"I know! I wish I lived there. I mean, I know it would be pretty awful, but like I'd do something? I'm not doing anything here anyway." She understood him. Here, on Beforus, she'd reached the top. She'd touched the sky and now there was nothing left to achieve. A horrible realization swept over her.

She was bored.

He grinned, and elbowed her. "Are we friends now?"

"Naw. Sorry kid."

He was silent beside her for a second, and she smelt his smile drop away like it was never there. Oh no, she hadn't meant to make him upset. She couldn't deal with sad kids. Oh no…

"Do you… think that, that _maybe_ in another universe we could be friends?" he whispered. She closed her eyes, sighed angrily, and pulled him close. He made a growlish whimper in the back of his throat, obviously surprised, and she giggled.

"We can be friends. Don't tell the clowntard though, okay? And you're not getting my name until we get this new world."

"I won't tell him. He really doesn't like you."

She laughed loudly. The Laughing had probably made sure she seemed like a horrid demon to the poor child. "Oh, I'm certain he doesn't. I am his kismesis.

"Woah,_ really_?!"

She hummed.

"You know, I kinda can't wait for this new universe," he whispered after a second, looking at her like she'd suddenly appeared and now nothing else mattered anymore, not a bit. (Oh wait, wasn't that the _truth_?)

She couldn't either, really, and she knew this new Terezi Pyrope would face her enemies at Karkat Vantas' side, and never leave it.

_Not once._


End file.
